Re fermenting Culture

This radical and informative book begins with a metaphor, that of the story of Pandora, the nurturer, the healer of the soul, as she brings a version of fermentation to the very beginning of our soul: the very things we need for survival, the many and varied elements which can be contained in a vessel made traditionally of clay and water.

Part one is presented in the form of poetic sliding words, which once they have become familiar in their strange shapes, makes for incredibly easy reading: Words contain the very basis of this work, which is based not only on the culture of fermentation but also of survival, environment and respect for the land, the country which feeds and nurtures. It is a book of ethical usage of the very things offered and often spurned, for the survival of not just the earth, but also the human species.

The footnotes make Part Two considerably clearer unless you are a scholar of the Greek Classics, as they help to link legend with modern day practice, but also help to point out the serious gender differences that have come down from the ‘Gods’, right throughout history into modern day acceptance, which many are finding creates an imbalance in what should be considered as a restriction to discovering or creating an even balance of life.

Jones includes the story of the birth of his son Blackwood (Woody) and the reflection relating back to Pandora, with the correlation to fermentation and the essential benefits, which are required to live a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle, a lifestyle that everyone once had as a matter of course and still, with a little concerted effort, can have once again.

Part Three is about the serious and not so serious art of brewing beer of seasonal fruits and hops, along with recipes to help further with the understanding of this radial, or perhaps not so radical, train of thought, which while the lifestyle, the thought patterns and the beliefs may not be for everyone, there is something contained within this work, to be found and utilised by everyone.

This book in itself is in the nature of an experiment of giving and nurturing, with the cost being that which you choose to give for this work ,which is in three parts poetical, theoretical and most of all practical.

Footnote: courtesy Artistsasfamily

Patrick Jones is one fifth of the performance collective Artist as Family whom “base our creative practice on our concept of permapoesis, which simply means permanent making – an antidote to disposable culture. We practice an art that participates in what it represents; an art of social warming in an era of global warming. Food ethics and politics are central to our practice. Generating food that brings human and ecological health and global justice is our creative call to arms. We teach foraging and other accountable living skills. We are bloggers, writers, poets, artists, video makers who also make music, but mostly we’re a family who belong to a bloody great community and therefore we’re much more than the sum of our parts.’